Little Lost Eevee
by Fairylust
Summary: It's not easy being born different. In a world where the weak are forgotten what is true strength? Near soon learns these things when he stumbles into this unsafe world. Eevee!Near & Eevee!Mello with Espeon!L & Umbreon!Beyond Birthday Warnings Inside!
1. Beginning: The Characters

**Yeah, this is the first crossover story I've decided to publish. That being said I've decided to go ahead and get those pesky warnings out of the way:**

**Warnings: Violence, mentions of blood, mentions of gore, mentions of death, negative outlooks, sad themes, & use of guns.**

**I know some people who'd have some sort of problem with some of that stuff, so ya know, I had to get that all out in the open and send some who dared click on this story packing.**

**Lol. ;3**

**No, please, do enjoy this little crossover. I thought it'd be interesting for me to tackle this project while I'm struggling with some others. I've just given myself a challenge and shall entertain myself very muchly, thank you.**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>Grunting he whimpered as he hit the ground hard after receiving a rather hard headbut attack. He stood shaking a bit. One of his eyes was open while the other was clenched shut in agony as sharp pains echoed through his head. He looked at the stronger, elder eevee that stood at least two feet from him looking frustrated. "You're too weak!" the lead eevee shouted at the smaller one angrily. "You won't survive at this rate! You'll <em>never<em> survive!"

"I-I am sorry. I am trying."

Sighing the elder eevee turned and headed off.

"Wait!" Called the younger eevee worried he was going to be abandoned for a second time. His parents had already abandoned him because of how weak he was. He didn't want to be abandoned again. "Where are you going? Will you come back? Please don't leave me alone!"

"I'm going to look for berries." He sighed, watching the small eevee limp slightly to their hiding place in a hallowed out tree. "Older orphans must care for younger orphans. It's like a rule, stupid. Don't you know that?"

The younger eevee shook his head as he lay down. The elder looked him over. He was much too young to battle, most likely having been born a week or so prior to then but the elder knew that if he didn't teach this younger eevee to fight, then he wouldn't stand a chance and fall prey to some stronger pokemon…or worse…some human. "Stay there until I get back or else I'll beat you up." He threatened watching the younger eevee nod in understanding. The elder then padded off confident the younger would listen.

"Berries, berries, where are berries?" he muttered to himself in a singsong voice as he padded about looking around for some berries. "Ah-ha!" he exclaimed upon spotting a bush of plump little blue berries. He walked over and sniffed them shuddering as the bittersweet tang entered his nostrils. Smiling he started to pick some but was stopped when something rammed into his side forcing him away from the nice, leafy bush.

He got to his paws and looked at what had knocked him over. The dustox hovered there dangerously looking rather angry. "Get away, you worthless eevee!" he shouted. "This is my bush! These are _my_ leaves and _my_ berries!"

"Please, let me take some! I haven't eaten in days and a younger eevee that's with me needs them too."

"I don't care! Get out of here!"

Standing his ground the eevee puffed out his chest boldly. "Fine, then I guess I'll have to take them by force." The eevee said unafraid of how much stronger the dustox looked. He grit his teeth together and prepared to attack once he saw the dustox was willing to fight.

Charging he used headbut but the dustox dodged to the side and body slammed him causing him to wail out in pain. He got to halfway to his feet when the dustox used wing attack to send him flying. He coughed a few times, unwilling to accept defeat. He started to attack again, charging towards the bug. The dustox changed his mind quickly sending him flying back into the tree and forcing him to retreat.

He quickly found himself back at the hiding place where he and the younger eevee hid from the rest of the forest. The younger greeted him merrily as he always did, but soon appeared disappointed upon seeing that no food had been brought back.

"I'm sorry." The elder said quietly. "I promise we'll have better luck soon. We should just…move on…for now at least."

Nodding jovially the younger followed him with a bounce in his step as they headed off to find someplace else to stay. In truth the elder feared the wrath of that dustox and wanted to make sure that he and his companion were as far away as possible when they went to sleep that night.

Elsewhere, a small odd-colored eevee hatched from his egg. He was tiny and the smallest of his four other siblings. His fur was pure white in color and the fur around his neck and at the tip of his tail was silver. Noises filled his ears and his eyes opened to see the face not of his mother but of an odd looking being who had purple fur and large kind eyes that held some sadness to them. He shook all over as this being picked him up gently by the scruff of his neck and carried him away. Whimpering he squirmed until the elder finally sat him down on grassy ground.

"Where are we?"

"This is called the forest." He explained. "It is our home, your home, unlike where you were born. That world is not meant for you."

"Forest?" the baby said quietly, his voice was soft and girlish causing his father to smile proudly down at him, while he looked about in wonder at the world. "Home? Forest?"

"Yes." He nodded. "We live here. You and I, now."

"You and I?"

"Yes." He said, and then continued explaining. "I am an espeon. You may not know this because you are an eevee born to an eevee. I can promise you that I shall teach you all I know."

The white baby blinked at him, smiling happily and his fluffy tail wagging a little.

"You're a very special eevee, a very lucky one." He rested a tiny front paw on his son's head affectionately. "Such a quiet little miracle you are. It is such a pity you've been forsaken as I once was." He turned away after removing his paw, beginning to walk off.

He soon found that the baby eevee wasn't following and turned around to see that the small white eevee wasn't following. "Are you coming?" He called making the baby pad up to him, stumbling a bit as he came towards him but quickly gaining balance. Looking him over the espeon smiled. "Let's go take a walk. I must show you around or else you may get lost. And my brother, I know, may not watch over you as well as I would like. You must learn the territory."

Nodding happily his son followed him as they walked. He pointed out all the berries that they could eat and not eat. He had shown his son the hollow where they lived and told him about the dangers around the territory. He also told his son of who to trust and who not to trust. It was an easy to remember list.

**Who to trust:**

His father, who was, of course, going to be caring for him when he could,

His uncle, who was probably going to be away for the next few days,

Their family friend, who was a wartortle named, Asia or just called A for short,

Other eevee, which were usually not a threat, &

Devin The Delibird, who delivered messages all over the forest and further than that for some human Pokemon Rangers, but was quite friendly and usually kept stationary in or around the forest.

**Who NOT to trust:**

The only thing needing to be said: anyone that is a total stranger or may seem to be threatening.

_Yes_, he thought. _That was a very simple list. _To make sure he even recited it to his son three times a morning after they woke up and five times before they went to bed. After a while he even asked the small eevee to recite it to him a few times. By the time he was satisfied, four days later to be exact, his younger brother had to show up.

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><p><strong>Do you like it so far? I think I'll tackle the next chappie if it's liked well enough. I can't wait to give the characters in this a happy ending! But then again, now that I think about it, I haven't given them ALL a sad beginning now have I?<strong>

***Evil smirk***

**Can't wait to hear what you all think.**

**~Luv, Fairylust~**


	2. Names & Failure

**11/23/11 at 7:07 p.m.**

**I plan to end this by Christmas and finish some other stories after or before then. I really am not that sure. But thanks for reading this and I hope that nobody minds how I'm gonna do this: DN characters as pokemon.**

**Maybe during another crossover I'll do something different but I like making the DN characters pokemon. It's fun for me! XD**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>The umbreon had padded up without notice, smirking upon seeing the small white eevee, who was at the time curled up asleep.<p>

"So, it would seem mating season was kind to you, too, hmm?" he said with a smirk, red eyes glowing a bit, insanity hidden in their red depths. "Strange that you kept the child. I assumed you would do as I and leave them with your selected female or females."

"I didn't mate for the reasons you do. There were no sexual thrills or cruel hilarities during my three 'endeavors'. I did it to pass on my genetic code into a suitable successor. I need someone to carry on my work once I am gone because unlike you I want to continue with the fun long after I'm gone. And I certainly won't trust any of your brood to do anything that I may need to be done, mostly because of how your genetics within their code may…interfere with the work. And I most certainly cannot have that."

"Of course, your work." Smirked his brother as he licked a paw. He made sure his scorn filled eyes avoided the espeon sitting across from him but his brother sensed his feelings of animosity, despite his attempts to cover it. "Helping other pokemon in secret without the aid of humans. Isn't that just _so_ wonderful? Then again, you did use a human to get into your current state, dearest brother. If you hadn't you would still be an eevee. Wouldn't you?"

"The same could be said of you." He countered. Sighing a bit he watched his brother warily as he walked over and looked the tiny white eevee over a bit, appearing rather depressed. "What troubles you, brother?" he questioned looking at the umbreon with an intent gaze, not trusting the umbreon in the least, seeing as he had a murderous past. "Is he not a little miracle to behold?"

"The only thing you needed of a mate was this innocent child to use for your own purposes, which I suppose means bending the sweet little thing's mind to your liking and not giving him a chance to bloom on his own? Isn't that just so _nice_?" the last comment dripped with angry sarcasm. "You aid another living being into existence for your own purposes. Is that not what those evil, greedy humans do to us on a daily basis? Exploiting us for their own personal wants?"

"You make me sound iniquitous." He said shaking his head in disbelief. "I wish him to be amusing. If not that then strong, so that he may carry on my work. I don't expect him to be an exact copy of me, if that is what you were thinking. He shall have his own personality and likes. I realize that, but hope he will cooperate with me."

"Anyway, what have you named him?"

"Named him?"

"Oh, Lawliet, don't tell me you haven't named the poor child yet!"

"The thought hadn't occurred to me."

"Oh, yes, you're an excellent father!" Beyond laughed. "Forgot to name your own child. I can imagine how wonderful you'll be in the future!"

"I've been so distracted by too many things to really give thought to naming him, seeing as his mother already gave him a name. I believe she called him, Nate." He paused and sighed, shaking his head in aversion upon hearing what he had said. "I swore that I would change it as soon as I thought of a new name for him because of how human it sounds, but then again she was a pet." He sighed shaking his head. Not noticing the look of amusement Beyond gave him. "Sadly, I never got around to it."

"You should think of a better name for him."

"Yes, I suppose so since you have mentioned it. However it will take him a bit of time to get used to a new name, so…I suppose that I might as well go ahead and get this renaming process over and done with." He paused to give it deep thought, thinking back to all the time they've spent together for the past few days since his birth. "His name, my contemptuous brother, shall from now on be Near."

"Near?"

"Yes. He is always near when I least expect it, especially when trouble is nearby. So his name shall be from now on, Near."

"Very well then." Beyond said shrugging his shoulders. "He's _your_ child."

"Yes." L agreed with a curt nod. "Yes, he is. Listen, Beyond, there will be times when I shall entrust him into your care and I want you to protect him when those times come, understand?"

"Oh, so what, I'm your babysitter now? I have things to do, you know. I have friends. Do you remember Asia? He's still around _and_ my best friend. Maybe I want to spend time with him rather than my big brother's baby!"

"Listen, little brother," the espeon said firmly, "I cannot fully care for my child when I have work to do, so I will entrust him into your care. There will be no more arguments on this discussion. It may be foolish but I will trust Asia and you to care for him whenever I ask it of you. Any other time I promise to not ask for anything from either of you."

Sighing he nodded reluctantly. "Very well then, L if you feel so strongly about this then I shall care for your precious little Near whenever I am asked, but I swear he better not be a pain or so help me I'll make him wish he stayed unhatched."

"You harm him, Beyond," L warned, "if you so much as cause a drop of his blood to spill then you will have me to contend with. I don't take kindly to threats, Beyond."

Rolling his eyes the umbreon looked at the tiny eevee sighing. _This kid may be more trouble than he's worth._ He thought. _Surely my brother knows his size is a disadvantage and he may be prone to illness at his young age._ He looked over to his espeon brother with an indifferent look feeling rather bored at that time, until the sound of yawning made him turn his head. The small eevee opened his eyes looking at the umbreon dazedly, yet curiously. Getting up he walked over to Beyond and attempted to stand on his hind legs so that he could touch noses with him. Instead, he fell backwards landing in some shrubs much to his uncle's amusement. He gave L a questioning gaze and a shrewd smirk came over his face.

"Near," L said gently helping the small eevee to his feet, while ignoring his brother's expression, "this is your uncle I have been telling you about. He will be taking care of you when I am not around. He's an umbreon another evolution of your line."

Near gasped, eyes wide as he stared up at Beyond in wonder making his uncle smile, as he enjoyed the attention he was receiving. "Have you told him of the other possibilities, brother, the evolutions he can take if in the right climate or exposed to the right elements?" Beyond asked smiling widely. L shook his head knowing that his brother would enjoy telling Near about the other possible evolutions. "Why don't you educate Near on the possible evolutions, which an eevee, such as himself, can take?"

"Gladly!" He said, smiling. "Sit down and I'll tell you all about it." Near nodded, ears twitching as he sat down.

Maybe this kid won't be so bad after all. Beyond thought before starting to tell the eevee about the other evolution forms that he could take if he chooses to.

Meanwhile, sitting alone the other elder eevee smiled upon finally finishing the pile of herbs he had managed to gather for him and his younger friend.

"Okay, let's eat!" he exclaimed happily. "You should try the red and blue berries. Those are the absolute best!" Nodding the younger eevee ate with his friend, agreeing that the blue and red berries were the best. When they finished eating their tasty meal they rested next to each other, curled up beneath a nearby bush. The elder eevee woke up immediately after hearing the sounds of yelling. His friend, however, snoozed on. He got up curious about what it was that made that noise and he knew he had to investigate.

He heard the screaming as he neared and felt ice run through his veins. "Please! No! Stop! My babies!" the female cries made him shiver as he peered through some bushes to see a frightened mother delcatty trapped in a cage while a small trio of humans bagged her four baby skitty. He watched as the last skitty was bagged and they tossed the bag and cage in the back of what he knew was a jeep and they drove off. I must know what they're up to! He thought giving chase. He knew his way around the forest so had confidence he'd remember his way back to his friend.

He ran for ten minutes and stopped seeing the three men were checking traps. He watched as one of them pulled a dozen yanma and butterfrees from some net traps they had rigged in the trees. A few beedrill struggled among them also helplessly trapped. Another of the men carried two traps from some bushes seeing that in one trap was a pair of scared togepi and in the other was a sad looking weedle. He set the traps with the delcatty who sobbed some more begging to be let out, but was ignored by the human. The eevee watched in terror as another human pulled a trap from some bushes that contained a pair of oddish and their older bellossom sister.

He watched as they pulled more trapped pokemon from hidden view. One of them smirked upon finding a rather angry looking vulpix trapped in a cage. They opened the cage, surprising the hidden eevee who smiled a bit until one of them released a pokemon that he recognized as a sneasel. They gave him a command and the next thing the eevee knew the sneasel was attacking the vulpix.

He watched as the sneasel beat the vulpix until she could barely move and was about to finish her when a sudden blur of purple caught his attention and made him stop. The pokemon that appeared then was not familiar to the eevee but he knew it was apart of his evolution line and suddenly he remembered what it was called. _Espeon_. He thought as he watched in awe as a battle ensued. The espeon charged the sneasel dodging to the side at the last minute and using iron tail to attack from behind sending the sneasel rolling back into a tree.

"Leave now before I get truly violent!" he warned loudly giving the humans a glare, and then pausing to stare at the cages of pokemon. "And let these innocent pokemon go!"

"Not a chance!" the sneasel shrieked charging, swiping at him in an attempt to claw the espeon, which gracefully dodged his attacks. The espeon then head butted the sneasel sending him sprawling in the dust glaring up at him. "This isn't over!" the sneasel spat getting to his feet and once again attempting to slash the espeon who dodged and sent him flying backwards with the use of iron tail again.

"This is so boring." The espeon suddenly sighed giving them all a weary look. "Time to end this pointless fight." His eyes suddenly glowed an ominous blue color and suddenly the sneasel and humans were all levitating, even the rounded red and white device thrown at the espeon by a nearby human floated inches from his head. He smiled and with a sudden swish from his forked tail sent them all flying into some bushes. He then used the same power to tear open all the cages and nets and sacks that held the captive pokemon.

They all flew or scampered away.

Except for one. A young pidgey lay crying out in pain on the ground. The young espeon stared down at it sadly but was viciously attacked by a rather large pidgeot. The hidden eevee felt bad for the espeon and wanted to go and headbut that pidgeot for being so ungrateful. The large bird pokemon took the pidgey and disappeared leaving the espeon picking himself up. Once on all fours he padded away never looking back to see the pidgeot take the pidgey away before the humans and their sneasel friend were able to gain consciousness.

Happy at how the fight turned out the hidden eevee smiled, laughing a bit. He turned and padded back to where he'd left his friend, but stopped upon scenting something strange was following the same trail he was taking. A yell of pain up ahead made him gasp quietly. He padded forwards stopping to see his friend was fighting, at least attempting to fight, against a young looking human girl. The eevee gave a fierce growl seeing the pokemon that was fighting for the human was some sort of grass pokemon that wasn't plentiful in the forest but were seen from time to time by the young eevee who had come to know these pokemon as bulbasaur. A vine went out and slapped the already weakened eevee upside his head making him collapse.

The human girl threw some sort of device that the elder eevee deflected with a well-aimed headbut. "Hey!" The girl let out a disappointed cry of confusion. "I guess I'll just catch the both of you." She then said with a smile. The elder eevee growled at this biting the vine when it came close enough. "Ow! Let go, let go!" The bulbasaur cried, tears running down his face as he tried to shake the eevee off. He let go growling as he stood protectively in front of his younger friend.

"Bulbasaur, use leech seed!" She suddenly commanded. The bulbasaur suddenly released a seed from its back. The eevee managed to dodge and give the opposing pokemon a fierce headbut. The bulbasaur landed backwards unconscious. "No!" the human cried out in sadness. "Bulbasaur!" The elder eevee watched as the bulbasaur disappeared in a beam of red light and into another device that the human pulled from her bag. A minute after she returned the bulbasaur to the device, another pokemon was released from another of the round devices she pulled from the bag that was on her back.

This pokemon was a large bug-type. It was more than mean looking; it was threatening to their small size. The elder eevee realized it was a beedrill and felt fearful immediately as she dived at him striking with her drills and knocking him to the side. By the time he turned he saw that his friend had been captured in one of those devices, disappeared in a beam of red light. The female beedrill dived at him again but he turned tail and ran knowing his friend was gone for good, now.

Running and running he was stopped when he hit into the back of a large, thankfully sleeping raichu. He backed away noticing that their were four other raichu and a whole bunch of pikachu and some pichu sleeping nearby, though a few that were awake stared at him curiously.

Backing away he ran for as long as he could and when he stopped he cried longer than he ever cried before. He had failed in protecting his one and only true friend. The younger eevee orphan would never forgive him if that human girl didn't kill him, but instead just maimed him. The eevee felt so lost, so afraid.

He felt useless.

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><p><strong>Thus ends chapter 2.<strong>

**;3**

**Another update shall be up shortly. I can promise you that. So, enough talk and more writing! Sound good? I hope so. X3 I really need to work hard on some of these stories, seeing as I've plans later on for the holidays.**

**~Luv, Fairylust~**


	3. Lost

**11/23/11 at 10:21 p.m.**

**I plan to, hopefully, end this by Christmas and finish some other stories after or before then. I really am not that sure. But thanks for reading this and I hope that nobody minds how I'm gonna do this: DN characters as pokemon.**

**Maybe during another crossover I'll do something different but I like making the DN characters pokemon. It's fun for me! XD**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>"Take care." Beyond said as his nephew followed him across the river along a path of slippery stones. "I don't think L would be too happy if I brought you back half-drowned, so watch your step."<p>

The baby eevee made a jump slipping slightly, almost falling into the water, but was luckily saved by B's best friend, Asia. The wartortle smiled a bit steadying the tiny albino eevee on the rock, and then watching as he crossed safely to the other side. Asia climbed from the water with a weary sigh.

"Why do we have to watch over this baby again?" he asked getting slightly tired of helping the small eevee out of trouble.

Before then it'd been keeping him away from twin teddiursas that had been playing near their sleeping mother's cave. And then they had to keep him away from a swarm of beedrill that had been flying about several yards away from said cave. After that it was keeping him away from a burrow, which happened to be home to some rather aggressive shroomish.

And now they had to keep him from nearly falling into a river. The little eevee was adorable and unique, but he was also curious and that caused a lot of trouble for his guardians, who believed that the espeon making them look after the small eevee enjoyed hearing of the trouble they had gone through.

"I don't know." Beyond sighed shaking his head in exasperation as he looked at the baby eevee he had to look after, which was now following his tail in circles. "Perhaps, it is because I promised my older brother that I would watch out for his kid while he went to work? Or maybe because I swore to not let any harm come to him and knew that if I left him alone in the cave he'd most likely wander off."

"The last one sounds reasonable." Asia said with a sigh. "How much longer will we have to play babysitters, though?"

"No idea."

In a matter of no time they were engaged in conversation. "So, Asia, do you think the runt will ever amount to much? He's like, so small and isn't really the brightest star in the sky if you know what I mean."

"But he's curious. Curiosity often leads to knowledge, you know."

"Yeah, well whatever you want to believe. L may have made a mistake taking this kid from the litter."

"Why did he?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"The kid's birthmother didn't like him. She said he was too weak and strange looking to survive, so she was up and ready to cast him off."

"Oh, but L decided to take him and give him a chance?"

"That's about right."

"Did L ever think of teaching this kid how to, I don't know, fend for himself?"

"He taught him the territory he should stay in and about who and who not to trust. It is basically that old don't talk to strangers rule our mother taught us. I doubt that it would work in a real life situation. The kid is too curious for his own good, even more so than L was at his age."

"Really?" Asia said looking doubtful. "Well, Beyond, does he even talk? He's awfully quiet. And what age are you talking about?"

"A few days, maybe a week at the most."

"Yeah, and he isn't mute?"

"Oh, he speaks, just not much. He will sometimes talk to L or me but other than that he is usually very quiet. It's the curiosity that kills me, though."

"You should probably keep your guard up seeing as humans have been spotted around here. I heard L took out a whole crew of human men that were poaching innocent pokemon and of some trainers that were coming through looking for new pokemon to catch."

"Oh, there is no need to worry, dear Asia, Near is perfectly safe as long as he is with me, besides what trainer would want a runt like him?" Beyond chuckled watching as the serious looking Asia lightened up a bit and smiled. Turning to where Near was he still laughed. "Right, runt?" he questioned expecting an answer, only to open his eyes and let them widen in shock upon seeing his baby nephew was not where he'd stood moments before.

"Gah!" Beyond exclaimed where he stood. Jumping to where Near had once stood he sniffed around for a scent and finding that Near had wandered off into the forest. "L is so gonna kill me if I don't find that runt!" he whined turning to Asia. "Help me before something happens to the kid!"

Near followed the small caterpie that he'd seen crawl by and was curious as to where it was going. When the small pokemon finally stopped moving he found that it was hungry and began to munch on some leaves near some odd-looking cocoon pokemon. Near sat watching in awe as the caterpie soon turned to him, staring at him looking a bit frightened, and then sprayed a sticky white silk-like string in his face making him yelp and fall backwards in surprise. When he managed to get the sticky stuff off his face he decided to leave the caterpie alone and padded off smelling something tasty nearby. He sniffed the air following the sweet scent, until he found a clearing where berry bushes were plentiful. He was quick to start eating these berries feeling too hungry to question the odd silence that the clearing held.

He ate some of the berries, letting blue juices cover his face. He only stopped when the sound of something snapping a twig made him turn to see a bird pokemon known as a fearow had landed. Its sharp eyesight glared at the young eevee seeing a pokemon that would make a tasty treat for her four newly hatched spearow young. The vicious predator pokemon moved forwards quickly, grabbing Near up in her talons before flying off. Near didn't know what to really think as he was carried far from the clearing. The fearow carried him high above the ground and treetops. He squirmed a bit feeling those talons dig into his flesh uncomfortably. The fearow ignored his discomfort and continued to fly until a pair of pidgeot collided into her screeching that she was in their territory. She screeched back at them to back off but instead they attacked her.

Near squealed as he was accidentally released and began to plummet to the ground. Luckily, there was a passing group of pidgeotto some of which broke his fall, giving out shocked screeching noises before flying about in confusion. He continued to fall, however. Landing with a hard 'oof' Near sat up shakily on the tree branch, but was too shaky, lost all balance, and then fell from it landing on the ground after falling a few more feet to the ground. Whimpering he tried to stand on all fours but found that one of his front legs kept giving way to his weight and had a sharp pain there.

Limping off he looked around to find nothing was familiar.

Sniffling after a little while of wandering he found that he was utterly lost. The sound of rustling in bushes made him cower a bit, not sure what to expect but much to his horror a pair of large ursarang that came out from the bushes glaring directly at him before shouting for him to get lost. He was frightened by their size compared to him. They were like mighty oaks and he a tiny flower standing in between. He wouldn't have stood a chance if they attacked.

Near complied easily, running as fast as he could in a random direction that wasn't guarded by one of the two fierce looking pokemon. He later regretted the choice when he found his feet were no longer on solid ground but open air. He let out a cry as his body tumbled down the rocky slant of land. He landed with a hard thud into a thorn bush, which rested just at the bottom of the slant bit of land. Shaking all over and feeling really scared the tiny eevee limped off wanting to just go home.

Elsewhere, Beyond and Asia quickly realized that their poor little Near had been taken off and away halfway through the huge forest by a fearow. Devin said he saw it all as he headed back from delivering a message to his boss. He told Beyond of how the small eevee took a fall. It angered and upset him at the same time, knowing his brother was surely going to kill him if the fall had really killed the tiny eevee.

"There may be a chance." Devin said hoping to cheer the umbreon up. "I saw some flying pokemon break his fall some and from there I suppose he landed into a tree and assume he fell safely to the ground. Don't feel so bad Beyond I could lead you there if you are willing to use some extra speed to get there. Asia could follow a river route and look for him around that area."

"Oh?" Asia inquired. "Do you have a map?"

Nodding Devin actually managed to produce one with an incredible amount of confidence. He then pointed to the area where Near could possibly be. Beyond was still upset if not even more so after getting a look at that map. "Look at this!" he exclaimed putting a paw on a small portion of the area Devin had pointed out. "Are those caves? There are actually underground caves!"

"Uh, yeah." He said nervously seeing B so upset really upset _him_. "Why does it matter if there are caves?"

"If the fall didn't kill him then something else will! He might wander into one of those caves and get attacked or poisoned or eaten or…or…ugh!"

"Calm down B." Asia soothed patting his friend on the back of his neck. "We'll find him and he's gonna be okay." He said with a smile, then leaned down and pointed to the center of the area where Devin had shown them. "See? There is only forest here those caves are way off. I doubt that Near will even get close to a cave. And look!" He pointed to several blue lines running through the map. "There are like several sources of water, meaning I can find him if I ask the right pokemon the right questions. Surely some water pokemon will see him pass by."

"Rivers are worse!" Beyond snapped. "He could try to cross one and drown! And see here!" his paws flew to a huge blue source where most of the forest rivers connected. "It all goes to this huge lake! What am I gonna do if he drowns? I can't go home to L and tell him I let his kid drown, Asia!"

"Okay, okay!" the wartortle exclaimed backing away from the umbreon. "Keep it together Beyond and I swear we'll find him alive, okay?" Sighing the umbreon nodded while Devin rolled the map up and put it away in his white bag. Lifting himself in the air afterwards Devin gave them a hopeful smile. "If we hope to find him before dark then let's go."

And then they were off.

Near had run until he found that he was trapped in a thick bush of thorns and sharp branches, pointy tipped leaves prickling his skin. Several pokemon had passed him by but none had wanted to help. He didn't give up though. As a trio of houndoom passed he called, "Help! Help!" they turned to look at him and one smiled. Towering high above the tiny eevee the leader of the group smirked evilly. He grabbed hold of Near's scruff and yanked him loose causing the poor baby eevee to cry out as branches and thorns raked deep marks in his back. He was immediately dropped. They mocked and laughed at him when he failed to stand due to the intense pain he felt, and then Near was left for dead by the cruel houndoom.

_You should never be late getting home._ He could hear L saying in his head. _You should return home quickly, especially if it begins to rain. _Remembering these words Near struggled to get up. He only stopped until he stood, and then began to limp off feeling immense pain. Unfortunately, he collapsed a mere two feet away from where he had started. All he could think to do then was call for his daddy to come help him.

As the winds picked up and the rain poured down harder he began to realize his father wasn't coming to help. Shaking all over he heard the sound of approaching paw steps and tried to crawl away, terrified at what might be coming his way.

Squeezing his eyes shut he knew there was no escape for him.

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><p><strong>Thus, ends chapter 3.<strong>

**Sad? ): **

**OR**

**Happy? :)**

**I thought this was kinda taking a turn towards sad. Let's see where it leads us!**

**;3**

**Another update shall be up shortly. I can promise you that. So, enough talk and more writing! Sound good? I hope so. X3 I really need to work hard on some of these stories, seeing as I've plans later on for the holidays.**

**~Luv, Fairylust~**


	4. Strong Meets Weak

**This update was posted 11/24/11 at 11:35 p.m.**

**So I hope you guys appreciate this! I enjoy writing it but I have Christmas plans to carry out! Anywayz, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thanks for all the reviews and stuff.**

**;3**

**I'm _very_ grateful. I don't intend that to be sarcastic. I meant that, really I do mean that. With all me heart! As babyish as it sounds.**

**Heh-heh. ^_^'**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>Chewing warily on some mint leaves the now lone eevee perked his ears sure he heard something approaching. Swallowing he glowered at some nearby bushes that moved a bit then went still. Growling a bit he padded over to where the noise was coming from and he found a teddiursa, spying on him. She was dirty, covered by cuts and filth. She was obviously an orphan as well. Knowing she was caught the teddiursa moved forwards.<p>

"What are you eating?" she asked. Smiling and looking at him with her adorable brown eyes she started to head over to where he had been eating. He immediately blocked her path protecting his food. "C'mon stop being mean!" the teddiursa whined. "I want some too."

Growling the eevee bolted forwards slamming his head into hers with incredible force sending her backwards crying out. Holding her forehead the teddiursa looked at him sadly. "You're mean!" she wailed before turning and running off. "Yeah," the eevee shouted after her, "well find your own food, you stupid lazy scavenger!" He then turned and walked back to the bush no longer interested in the mint leaves but the blue berries that were on a smaller bush just behind it. He ate these berries, keeping his ears alert and sure enough the time came for him to run when he saw a pair of humans passing by. They didn't notice him but he was not willing to chance being caught.

Padding a ways away from that place he stopped once he was at a river. Licking up some water he sat down to groom himself ignoring when a small group of poliwag floated by playing some sort of game that faintly reminded the eevee of when he and his younger friend had played tag. Sighing he knew better than to dwell on these things and started to move on. The wind that had been blowing light for about half an hour began to pick up about two hours later when he sat down to rest.

Looking to the sky he saw the large fluffy gray clouds that were approaching fast from the west. _It's going to rain. _He thought, quickly deciding to seek out shelter as soon as possible. He looked about until he found a nice hollowed log that was unoccupied.

Settling in as the raindrops started to fall he closed his eyes ready for some sleep. A faint whining yelp that came to him from someplace off in the distance made him look up and around. Nobody was around save for a small family of oddish that were hiding beneath a hedge a few yards off. He tried to ignore it but ended up getting up and heading off in determination to find the source of that noise and make it fall silent.

After a while of running he was soaked but had come across the source of the noise. A tiny white eevee lay now almost silent whimpering. The small eevee was badly hurt and shaking all over. He was younger than the elder eevee's last friend. He prepared to leave, seeing no reason in helping this weaker eevee when suddenly the white eevee cried out to him. There was no words spoken it was just a pathetic sounding cry he made while staring at the elder eevee from where he lay.

Sighing he felt compassion grip at his heart. "I'll move you over to a dry spot but from there on out you're on your own." He whispered to the younger male. He gently pulled the odd white eevee to a nearby oak tree that was dry underneath.

"Stay here until the rain stops." He said trying to avoid looking at the horrible scratches on the younger eevee's back. "You should be safe until then. As soon as this rain stops you're on your own, okay?"

The smaller eevee nodded eyes partially closed. The elder eevee sat by the white eevee's side until the rain came to a drizzle. He glanced down at the white beat up eevee seeing he was asleep. With a sigh he padded off back to his hollow log where he managed to get some sleep, waking hours later to find a beautiful rainbow streaking across the sky.

He was ready to go. Getting up he stretched himself and padded out into the sunlight looking around. It was sure to be a good day. He just knew it as he felt the grass beneath his paws. Padding off he was ready to enjoy the day.

Elsewhere, Near opened his eyes to find that older eevee was gone, frowning he whimpered a bit getting to his paws and sniffing around until he got the other eevee's scent. He padded after the scent trail that had been weakened by the rain but it wasn't completely gone. Padding he soon found the log where the other eevee must have slept. He followed the scent and soon began running his clumsy run, finding a strong scent trail that gave him hope that he would soon find the elder male. He eventually collided with a huge fallen log that was way bigger than him. Staring at it grumpily the small eevee sighed.

He padded back a ways and ran ready to try and jump the log, but ended up collided headfirst with the log, seeing as his run had been clumsy and jump not at all as graceful as it should have been. Whimpering in frustration the small eevee knew the only way to find the other eevee was to get over the log somehow so he tried jumping a few more times only to fail the same way he had the first time, due to his wounded leg.

It wasn't long before a predator found the frustrated infant. Staring hungrily at the tiny albino the scyther licked its lips recalling how tasty eevee was. Flying from his hiding place in a nearby tress the large bug pokemon stood before the stunned eevee. Growling the scyther swung a claw down. He knocked the small eevee off his paws, sending him rolling back in the dust yelping in pain and distress. While Near was down the scyther raised its blade for the kill, the blade reflecting in the eye of the poor albino, but said claw froze when another eevee hit him in the back of the head with a strong headbut attack, landing gracefully before the smaller, helpless eevee growling.

Angry that his kill had been disrupted the scyther turned with a snarl and raised one of his scythe-like arms. Bringing it down he stared in shock when the elder eevee of the pair leapt on his arm and ran up to where he stood on his shoulder, and then opened his mouth releasing a shadow ball. It hit the predator in his face causing him to fall backwards, and then fly off giving up on this hunt.

Panting the eevee turned to the younger feeling really mad at him. "What are you doing?" he yelled at him. "You could have been eaten! Don't you know how dangerous it is around here, huh? Aren't you, at all, afraid? If not for me, then you'd be dead by now, you little pipsqueak!"

"I'm sorry." Said the little albino eevee, looking away as though in shame. He then touched noses with the elder eevee and smiled a bit as the elder flinched away looking at him huffily. "Thank you." He said in his soft, quiet voice and his large, ebony eyes flickering apologetically.

Sighing the elder shook his head and began to leave the smaller male. Assuming he was to follow Near padded after him, stumbling a bit as he struggled to keep up. Annoyed the elder tried to fasten his pace, but Near was able to keep up despite his attempts to abandon the younger male. It wasn't until a little over twenty or thirty minutes later that the elder stopped walking and turned on the small eevee, baring his teeth angrily.

"Go away!" he shouted. "I don't want you following me around everywhere, so get!"

Hurt, Near's fluffy tail fell limp behind him and he shrank down away from the angry tone that was used, squeaking a bit in pain as he tried to put weight down on his wounded leg. Glaring the elder hoped he got his point across but when he began to walk the younger followed after, limping and shaking all over. He moved slower than before making sure he kept crouched down near the ground as he followed after the elder eevee. Growling a bit he turned and took the younger, tiny male by the scruff of his neck. He jerked him as hard as he could.

Dragging the wilted and apparently frightened eevee over to a large tree the elder felt himself exhale sharply in annoyance at the effort he was exerting to get rid of the younger wounded male. Letting go, he stared crossly down at the smaller eevee, who lay on the ground staring up at him in fearful confusion. "Stay here." He said. "I don't want you to follow me. I need you to stay here until I come back for you, okay?"

"Really, Merro?"

"Yea-wait, did you just call me 'Merro'?"

Near nodded, smiling innocently.

"First off," said the elder, "that isn't my name. I have no name. I disowned my birth name, so if I'm called anything it's Eevee, okay? And second off, you aren't supposed to be following me!"

"Really?"

"Yes!" the elder insisted. "You need to stay here." Looking uncertain the smaller eevee looked around, tail tucked between his trembling legs as the shadows of the forest cast down over him and the noises of wild bird pokemon flying above reached his ears. He moved over to where he was between the legs of the elder eevee, keeping his wounded leg cradled against his fluffy chest. He trembled looking up at the angry face of the elder, who was more than fed up with this beat up baby eevee.

"I don't like you." Said the elder eevee when he tried to pad off, only to be followed by little Near, who padded after him, wounded leg kept off the ground, which slowed his pace slightly. Turning suddenly, he glared at Near, who gave a small whimpering response to the harsh look. "I hate you, so go away and leave me alone!" he shouted and began to run.

Not wanting to be left alone the small eevee limped after him only to be stopped when a marill suddenly appeared in front of him from some lush bushes that were off to the side of the path. Yelping in surprise and fear he jumped backwards. The blue and white mouse pokemon was soon joined by a poliwhirl. They looked down at the frightened eevee appearing scary to him, seeing as they towered above him.

"This is the kid, right?" the marill asked her voice sounding soft, yet worried. "He's the one that we were told to keep an eye out for?"

"Looks like it. I guess we'll just have to take him and find out for ourselves, won't we?"

"But what if a Madame Vaporeon or Leafeon is around? Wouldn't we be stealing her little baby?"

"You worry too much." Said the poliwhirl as he reached down and grabbed Near by the scruff of his neck. Squirming he whined and yelped, calling for help. The marill tried to soothe him, but only ended up frightening him more. "Quiet down!" snapped the poliwhirl with his tone turned harsh. "We're trying to help you, not hurt you." Near didn't believe that, especially when they began to take him into a river.

"Hey!" they heard a voice shout. "Let him go!"

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><p><strong>I apologize for the breivity, but again I have plans to carry out and need my sleep, okay? I hope you all understand!<strong>

**Bye-byez for now!**

**~Luffly Luffles, Fairylust~**


	5. Finally Decided

**The only thing that is really on my mind at the moment is like what pokemon do you people think Mello, Near, & other members of DN series should be? I chose eevee for this fic because they're different from L but in a way the same, so in the future...ya know different but the same in a way.**

**;3**

**Make sense or not? Anywayz, I'd really like to hear your opinions on this thought.**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>"Merro!" the smaller called, happy to see that the elder had come back for him. He struggled even harder, trying to get free. "Merro! Merro!" Charging up a shadow ball the elder eevee let it loose on the poliwhirl, but it didn't do much, if any, damage. Growling he ran and attacked the primal way, biting into his arm causing him to drop the small white eevee.<p>

"Quick run!" he shouted as he padded off from the water, followed closely by Near, despite his hurt leg. They ran and ran for what felt like hours, stopping once they were far from the river and sitting beneath the safety of a large oak tree. "That…that was crazy." He panted. "Kid, you get into way too much trouble."

"Thank you, Merro." He said quietly, shaking all over as the pain in his leg became sharper than sharp.

Snuggling up against the older male Near rubbed his head against his shoulder. Groaning tiredly, also feeling partially annoyed he decided to give up on trying to get the younger eevee to stop calling him that stupid name, which was beginning to get on his nerves. He also decided that he might as well as give up on trying to get rid of him, seeing as the guilt of it would eat away at him like a starved rattata, as well as the fact this kid seemed to really like him. "Friends?" he asked as the elder lay down, thinking of something for the younger eevee to call him.

"No. We will never be friends, kid. I-Oh, yeah, speaking of names what is yours?"

"Near."

"Near?"

"Uh-huh."

"You like calling me, Merro?"

He nodded.

"Well, from now on how about you call me…Mello?"

"Why?"

"I don't like the name, Merro, besides I guess being called Eevee would get tiring after a while. So, from now on, you should call me, Mello."

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Mello."

"For?"

"Saving me from the big bad poliwhirl."

"You're welcome." He said smiling. "Hey, maybe tomorrow I can teach you how to protect yourself later." Looking at the elder eevee, now known as Mello, with wide eyes he nodded feeling eager to do something with the elder pokemon. He wagged his fluffy tail happily and smiled brightly. "How can Mello teach me to defend myself?" he asked innocently, curiosity flaring a bit within his eyes.

"I'll battle with you and the experience you gain should make you stronger. It's easy if you try hard enough, Near!"

Smiling the albino eevee nodded.

That night Mello shown Near where they'd be staying for the next two days. Once he finished letting Near explore the selected briar bush he explained it would keep them safe and provide a nice dry shelter. The smaller eevee didn't question his choice of a hiding place like Mello's former companion would have. Near was too young to understand flaws in a hiding place. He had to learn these sort of things. Mello knew this and was sort of glad he'd be the one to teach the smaller eevee.

It made him feel needed. And in some way it also made him feel superior to the younger male. After watching Near as he settled down, looking as cute as he could and making Mello roll his eyes the elder eevee sniffed the air, and then padded off. He tried to keep calm, but the sound of cawing and buzzing overhead his shelter made him shiver as he remembered his deadly fall and journey.

An hour or so later he became worried that Mello was trying to abandon him again when there was still no sign of him. Near then got up and followed after him. He gave a low grunt when he collided headfirst with Mello, who was coming back with some buries held within a large leaf. The berries scattered about everywhere, some getting squashed by the two eevees as they fell. Getting to his paws Mello looked at the berries angrily. He turned to glare at the tiny albino eevee.

"Look what you did!" He shouted. "It took me forever to get these and look what you did!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he growled, shaking in fury. "Sorry! You're sorry all right! You can't stay put when you are told to and you have to follow me around like some parasite all the time! Why can't you do anything right? No, better question, why can't you listen to me?"

Teary eyed Near looked down at his paws. Soon he was quietly sobbing and hiccupping. Of course Mello felt bad. He knew he should have been more patient with the younger eevee, so he put a reassuring paw to Near's shoulder. "It's okay." He said softly. "I'm sorry I yelled. It wasn't your fault. I guess I could have told you I was getting us some food, so you didn't think I was running off again."

"S-sorry." He whimpered, still crying and nuzzling against the elder eevee. "Really sorry, Mello."

"Hey, don't be. I mean, sure you're getting on my nerves but that's what little brothers do, right?"

"Brother?"

"Uh-huh." He said, moving away from Near and trying to collect as many of the berries as he could into a pile, meanwhile he explained what he meant. "You're younger than me and we're together, so it's like we're brothers or something." Smiling and letting his tail wag Near licked the back of Mello's ear, making him give a sigh of disgust and try to rub the younger eevee's kiss away. "Stop being gross and eat this stuff. It'll help you get better. And I'm gonna go find me something to eat, okay?"

Nodding Near obediently began to eat the pile of berries. Mello then padded off to find some more berries and seeds. He managed to find a small amount in an orchard not too far from where Near was left, so he began to eat some. His meal, sadly, was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a noctowl. He turned his head to the side and moved over to where he stood a couple feet from the wary Mello. "What do you want?" the eevee demanded, used to fighting for his meals. "Is this place yours or something?"

"No. I was just sent to look for a…problematic eevee. I have been informed that two friends of mine last saw him. I was wondering if, perhaps, you have seen a white eevee running around somewhere around here?"

_White eevee?_ He thought feeling his stomach lurch. _What is with everyone! Why do they want to get a hold of Near so badly? Is he in trouble or something?_ He sighed and looked away, no wanting to answer the question. The bird pokemon sensed his tension and moved a step forwards.

"If you know something, then please speak. This white eevee is very important to an acquaintance of mine. If he is not recovered then my associate would surely be most upset."

"Is this associate…human?"

"Of course not! He is a very powerful pokemon. This white eevee is supposed to be under his care. You see, young eevee, this pokemon is the child's keeper."

"Some keeper!" Scoffed Mello. "If he just lets this kid run about everywhere and trusts other pokemon to find him, then I think the kid is better off on his own than with someone who doesn't care enough about him to watch him."

Glaring the bird pokemon spread his wings and snapped, "Silence! You don't know anything about L, you imprudent brat!" Shrinking back he growled at the stronger looking pokemon.

"I know enough to know that if he can't keep an eye on his own kid then he isn't as great as some pokemon around your neck of the woods might think he is!"

The noctowl looked ready to say something else but just shook his head and turned, flying off. He seemed too disgusted and angry with the eevee's attitude to even think of speaking with him further. Huffing angrily, too angry to eat Mello found Near curled up asleep back at their hiding place beneath the briar bush.

Exhaling he nudged Near awake.


	6. Surprise, Surprise

**11/27/11**

**My Christmas ROCKED hardcore! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and will have a happy New Year, as well!**

**Here is a new chappie for your enjoyment! X3**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>Exhaling he nudged Near awake.<p>

"Hey," he said softly, "do you know who L is?"

"Daddy?" Near murmured softly, looking around. "Where?"

"Nowhere." Mello sighed. "Nowhere. Hmm, did he leave you out here by yourself? Did he…beat you up?" He dreaded the answer. He didn't want to hear that Near's own father, who was supposed to care for him instead of hurting him, had hurt the defenseless little eevee. Near shook his head, laying it down between his front paws looking utterly sad. Mello gave a soft groan as he laid down beside the younger eevee. "How did you get so beat up then?" he asked. Near cuddled up against him, much to Mello's annoyance but he didn't protest.

"Big scary birds." He said softly. "And a tree and a bunch of big houndour and falling everywhere. It was scary and hurt a lot."

"Where was L when you needed him?" Mello looked off straight ahead like revisiting a painful memory. Hearing sad stories really got to him anymore, despite how tough he'd become. Near shrugged his good shoulder a bit to show he had no clue. It wasn't surprising to the elder eevee that the poor kid had no clue about his own dad's whereabouts. Mello had had the same problem when he was with his own parents, never knowing when or where they would be or go.

"Uncle was supposed to protect me." He whispered to Mello, as though it would defend his father in some way. In Mello's mind it wasn't a strong enough defense. It just let him know that this L was way too busy running about other places to care for his own kid. It was a depressing thought that made Mello feel really tired to think about, so he rolled over onto his back, staring up at the sky through the branches and leaves of the briar bush. Near attempted to mimic the older male succeeding after struggling a bit with his position.

"Do you ever look up at the sky and wonder why they do this to us?"

"Do what, Mello?"

"Leave us alone. It's not right."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You're too young to understand, but…he should have been there for you. L should have been there to watch over you and take care of you…he should be looking for you himself instead of sending total strangers out-!" He stopped himself, choking on the words and finding his eyes tearing up. "You're just a baby, but you're his kid. Shouldn't he want to look after you? Or are all parents supposed to just…forget…about us?"

"Daddy is smart, Mello." Near said with a weak, yet soft smile. "He will find me."

"Pfft. Yeah, sure he will."

"Daddy will. He cares."

"Then why are you all beat up?" He demanded, voice raising and head turned to the side so he could glare icily at the white eevee. "Why are you in so much pain, if he cares so much? Why can't you defend yourself from those bigger than you? Why is he leaving you out here to die? If he cared he wouldn't have let you got taken away by a stupid bird pokemon!"

"Don't be mad. Uncle, Daddy, and Asia will find Mello and me, and then Mello can be my big brother forever."

"No I won't."

"Hmm?"

"If your family ever finds you, if they're even trying, Near, do you think that they will want me? I'm not their kid. Why would they bother with me? I'm pretty sure that if they ever find us…they'll…they'll…."

"Mello?"

"They'll take you away…they'd take you home with them and…they'll leave me alone out here."

"No."

"That's the way things go, Near."

"No!"

"You can't just say that and make them change their minds, Near. They'd hate me. I would just be another mouth for them to feed and they wouldn't want that, seeing as they aren't even my real family. And, besides, I'm strong enough to make it on my own. I don't need some stupid family holding me back."

"Mello is very brave."

"No I'm not."

"Yes. Yes, Mello is. He is very brave. The bravest pokemon ever!"

"No, Near, I'm not."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Why do you want to believe in these delusions?"

"Delusions?"

"You know, things that aren't real but you think that they are."

"Mello is no delusion!" The small eevee giggled, fluffy tail wagging happily. "Mello is right here! He is real and very brave to be by himself, alone." Sighing Mello shook his head and stood up. He began to pad off, ignoring the near silent whimpers as Near stood up too. "Where is Mello going?" he asked, body shaking in exhaustion. Mello looked at the poor kid with sympathy.

"I'm gonna go get you a surprise, okay? I need you to stay there, however, until I get back."

"I can follow-"

"No!" The elder snapped shocking the younger male into silence. He then softened his voice and explained, "It's a surprise, stupid. You can't follow me. If you follow me then you'll ruin the surprise, you silly thing." Looking embarrassed at his ignorance Near nodded, then lay down looking dejected. "Hey, don't be so sad." Mello said. "I promise I'll be back. I won't leave you here alone, promise."

Smiling a tiny bit the little eevee then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he woke to find that Mello had gathered some more seeds, berries, and some sort of tasty looking meat for them to eat. He was sound asleep, so Near went ahead and ate his part of what was gathered. He then wandered off to explore the territory a bit, wondering if it were like the territory back home. When Mello awoke he found that Near was nowhere in sight. Giving a sigh he followed the small eevee's scent trail and found him stuck in a berry bush between two branches, blue berry juice smeared all over his white fur that was already stained a filthy tan color from dust and a red by dried blood.

"What were you doing?" Mello asked as he helped the small eevee from his predicament by chewing at one of the thin, but firm branches. He soon found his jaw aching and unable to continue helping his little friend. "Looks like I'll have to try and pull you out." He muttered. His ears were laid back in a fierce manner of annoyance as he spoke. "You should be way more careful."

"I-I wanted to explore." Near whimpered shakily as he watched Mello move to where he stood in front of him. He noticed a slightly worried look in the elder eevee's eyes and he wondered just what he was up to. "Mello?" he whimpered out still watching the elder carefully.

"This is gonna really hurt, Near, so just be still and it shouldn't hurt so much, okay?"

"What is Mello gonna do?" he asked a little too late. Without warning Mello ran off leaving the small eevee all alone. Whimpering he struggled a bit but stopped when his scratches got irritated. Shaking he then heard the padding of paws and saw a glimpse of Mello before his head clashed with Mello's and he was thrown backwards successfully unstuck. Lying on the ground, however, Near grimaced as the pain washed over him in waves, his body wracked by spasms. "Are you okay?" Mello asked nudging his face a bit with his nose to see if he'd accidentally knocked the white eevee out.

Struggling to his paws Near leaned against Mello a bit to stand up. "Ooh, you're really beaten up now." He said helping Near limp to a nice soft patch of grass. "I should probably go find you some water or something."

"Okay." He whispered. "Bye-bye." Mello gave him a nod and padded off to find a river or stream or something like that. It took an hour before he found a nearby river and smiled as he padded back to help Near get to it, but froze upon getting there horrified at the sight, which greeted him.

He felt his blood freeze within his veins.

Growling he approached the human girl slowly, menacingly. Her eyes widened as she looked down at him, her pink locks of hair falling down over her shoulder as her head snapped in his direction and her blue eyes widening. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I-it's okay." She then whispered to Mello, who glared at her knowing better than to trust the word of a human. Memories of betrayal and pain and the most recent capture of the eevee he failed to protect forced him to hate this girl, who stood holding a weak, squirming Near in her arms. Charging with a snarl Mello let out a yelp when a large, female zangoose appeared out of what seemed like nowhere and headbutted him to the ground.

"Zangoose," said the girl as she walked off with Near, "don't be too rough, now."

"No!" Barked Mello in defiance as he managed to evade the zangoose. He jumped once close enough at the moment the girl turned in surprise, and then he sank his teeth into the girl's arm savoring the metallic tang of blood. "Leave her alone!" the zangoose cried as she ran and used some sort of powerful attack on him.

_Am I caught?_ He wondered as blackness overtook his vision. In his land of nightmarish dreams he saw a slightly older eevee sliced in half by a scyther. His sibling never stood a chance. He was conserved to be weak and Mello had learned that in a world of weak and strong that weakness wasn't tolerable. Only the strong thrived and deserved to live for their efforts. So then where was Near? Looking about in his dream world he could see the tiny albino eevee clearly. He stood helpless among a crowd of big, scary humans that held many different weapons.

Soon, Mello witnessed every form of torture he'd seen a pokemon go through at the hands of the evil monsters known as humans. He whimpered out freighted symphonies at memories of witnessing beatings and killings and trappings. He had seen abandonment and sacrifice of the weak by the strong. And in the end he found himself stuck between choosing life and Near. In his dreams he could have tried it, but instead he turned and ran away.

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><p><strong>Thus, I end this chappie on a dark, ominous note. I hope that it was satisfying and made you all gasp, at least once or twice. I surely do plan on finishing this soon, so please do keep reading.<strong>

**~Luv, Fairylust~**


	7. Training

**Yea, so I suppose some of these chapters could be longer. I'll get to working on that. You guys must be so annoyed with these short chappies. I so totally promise I will! Until then, Happy New Years!**

**~Luv, Fairylust~**

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><p>Screaming he awoke from his dream in the light of a warm fire, panting and finding that he had a bandage around his forehead and a bowl of food set out in front of him. Shaking all over he sat up, ears up straight and alert. Staring at the girl, who was across from him with a blissey eating some sort of mushy, white sphere-like food. Looking around in confusion he found Near lying beside him asleep, seeming to have good dreams. Mello gave him a slight nudge but he only gave a soft groan in response.<p>

He seemed to be having pleasant dreams and all bandaged up Mello noticed. His confusion doubled when the blissey got up and came over to him, smiling. "Your little friend there will be okay thanks to Clarice." She said, smiling. "She was really nice to let me help you poor guys. I am really glad I could be of help to you two. Have some food, you really need it."

"Wh-why?" he choked out, still suspicious. "Why are you…why?"

"Hmm? Why what?"

"Why are you helping us?" He demanded. Cold eyes were narrowed at the blissey, who still seemed friendly despite this. "We're weak and you're strong! So why are you-?"

"Oh, well, maybe that's how it is out here, but not where we come from. Pokemon rangers must help those in need, because it's the right thing to do and we want to help those in need. Clarice and I love to help those that are in need of support. It's what we've always done."

Staring at her not really trusting he backed up a bit and laid down beside Near, pressing his body against the younger male's as he lay there. Mello thought things over but felt unsure if he should believe the blissey. She was with a human, after all. And humans were bad he'd learned. It was as though the human, Clarice, had read his mind. She stared at him from where she sat, her bandaged arm illuminated by the fire and her eyes glowing a bit.

"You've must have had a hard life, eevee. I knew it when you attacked me and even now I can see it in your eyes. You hate me. I can't say I blame you, but you should know that not all of us humans are evil. Some of us are good…some of us want to help…."

Turning away he laid his ears flat on his head to show his hostility that wasn't as fierce as before. His feelings were all tangled up and confused. Mello tried to forget those words and tried to catch some sleep. He succeeded, but he wasn't overjoyed. Nightmares greeted him, along with painful memories as he slept.

Near awoke after a bit the next morning and tried to eat some of the food that had been set out for them. "No!" Mello shouted shoving him away from the bowl. "Don't eat that, Near!"

"Why?"

"Erm, uh, i-it might make you sick! Let me take a bite first."

Nodding Near stepped off to the side and Mello sort of found himself wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. Gulping he took a bite of the food and found that it was actually quite tasty. A little bland at first, but the aftertaste was pretty good. Sighing after realizing that it was alright to eat the food he stepped aside to eat from the bowl set out for him. They both managed to down all the food they were given.

Afterwards, blissey explained to them that if they wanted to leave then they could. Surprised that it was that easy Mello kept his guard up as they left, but found that nothing happened. Soon they were far away and Mello was distracted from his confusion when Near found a small burrow that was dug in the earth. He'd poked his head down in there and Mello ended up having to pull him away before he could crawl down in there.

"Near!" Mello scolded after getting him away from the hole. "Don't do that! You could get hurt or you might anger someone! Do you have any idea how dangerous sticking your head in a hole is around here?" Near shook his head. Sighing Mello laughed a little upon realizing how mothering he sounded. Giving the white eevee a rough, but playful shove with one of his paws he laughed as Near tumbled back so that he lay on the back, struggling to get up without stumbling. "You're so funny!" Mello laughed, shaking his head like he couldn't believe Near was actually humorous.

Nudging the white eevee to his feet Mello led him off, stopping when they approached a familiar looking dustox. Sensing his friend's tenseness Near froze, pressing himself against the elder eevee fearfully. "Mello?" he mumbled. "Mello, what's wrong?" Ignoring Near, Mello padded along slowly. The white eevee followed behind Mello at a slow pace keeping as quiet as possible, as though already knowing he was to not speak during this tense moment.

"Hey!" The dustox cried upon seeing Mello and Near. "You're the one who tried to steal my leaves and berries! Are you here to steal them from me again?"

"N-no!" Mello spat trying to sound as brave as he could. "We aren't even near your stupid leaves and berries! This is a whole other section of the forest, you stupid insect!"

"Don't you dare insult me!" Screamed the larger bug pokemon. The dustox flew down quickly, ready to attack. Acting fast Mello shoved Near out of the way and jumped off to the side. He was just in time, barely missing getting hit by the cruel dustox. Turning he saw the dustox prepare to dive at Near and charged up a shadow ball as quickly as he could letting it fly and collide with the dustox, sending it to the ground.

"Near! Run! Come on, follow me!"

The two ran as fast as they could, just wanting to get away from all the danger. Skidding to a stop when he was sure they were safe Mello yelped, and then growled when Near collided into him from behind. "Watch it!" He snapped. Near cringed away whimpering a little, eyes drooping sadly. He looked so adorable that it made Mello sick. Yet at the same time feel a little bad he's snapped at him.

"I'm sorry." Near mumbled. "I will be more careful. Thank you for protecting me again, Mello."

Smiling proudly he forgot his anger and annoyance and nodded. "You're welcome." He said proud of himself. He'd protected Near successfully again, but then he remembered that he wouldn't always be able to do that. Frowning he let a gloom wash over him. Near was way smaller than him and a lot susceptible to attack. Noticing the change in moods the younger eevee felt a bit uneasy and fidgeted where he sat, moving his paws about or making his tail tip twitch or perhaps moving his ears a bit every minute or so. "Near," Mello said seriously, "I think that maybe it's time that I teach you how to protect yourself from those bigger than you, okay?"

"Hmm? Why?"

"Because, Near, you can't always depend on me to be there for you. Someday something might happen and we'll be separated and nobody will be able to defend you then, so I'm gonna help you learn to protect yourself before that happens. Is that okay?"

Smiling a little Near nodded, wagging his fluffy tail. "If it will make Mello happy then I'll try." He said wanting to make the elder eevee proud of him for once. "I promise to try my hardest."

"Okay then let's begin." Mello said smiling, not aware that they were being watched by a purple figure in a nearby tree. He padded back a little ways, and then charged Near knocking him off his paws and sending him sprawling in the dust, dirtying the white eevee's fur.

"Near!" he scolded. "You were supposed to block that or, at the very least, dodge to the side to avoid being hit!"

Nodding in apology for his ignorance Near got to his paws ready to try again, but once again failed to dodge or block and was soon back on the ground all beaten and battered and looking so pathetic as Mello glared at him, feeling that he wasn't even trying to get stronger. It frustrated him, while seeing his companion so upset frightened Near.

The soft fluttering of wings went unnoticed.

"You aren't even trying!" Mello spat angrily. "I'm trying my best to help you, so you better do your best to show me you're capable of taking care of yourself! And so far you aren't even trying!"

"Y-yes I am!"

Mello huffed, "Then try harder!"

"N-no!" he yelped, but was too late and found himself colliding with a tree as one of Mello's shadow balls hit him full force. He was knocked unconscious, shocking Mello who hadn't meant to harm the younger eevee.

Hurrying over to his side he examined Near carefully hoping nothing was broken. "Near!" he whispered to the smaller eevee as he lay there on his side looking dead, save for his shallow breathing. "Oh, Near, please wake up soon and I won't ever do that again, just please…please don't die on me."

"I don't want to be alone again." He whispered, realizing how much he truly hated being alone. "Please, Near, if you die and leave me alone, then I will make you so sorry. I'd make you wish you never left me, so please, Near, wake up!"

A small paw suddenly rested on his, calming him a bit as he stood watch over the younger eevee's unconscious form. His breathing was soft and he looked so fragile that Mello felt bad for being so rough earlier. Mello knew Near was different from him and was sort of glad. Looking up at the sky for a few minutes of thinking Mello sighed, and then looked down at Near again.

He knew he wouldn't ever have to be alone again.


	8. Searching

**Warning: This chapter contains some harsh elements, negativity, and sadness, so none of that suit any of you then scram! Oh, also this author's note thingy about my thoughts lately is (or so I think it is) extremely long and probably rude, but I apologize in advance for any feelings that I hurt. I happen to get brutally honest with my thoughts when I get regally PO'ed.**

**Kay?**

**You've been warned...**

**)X**

**Nobody reading? ;_;**

***Sighs and shrugs***

**Oh well.**

***Cue the wink* I'll just finish up here and work some on another fic I need to complete.**

**;3**

**Don't hate me for being such an update freak. Ya know, I mean, going and stopping, and then repeating the process. I am sorry for trying so hard or whatever. *Roll eyes* But I have been doing stuff for the holidays, which I don't regret and am trying to finish things up so nobody sends me any F-bomb messages.**

**Please, regard my feelings in your private messages, emails, and reveiws. But don't be soft on me or anything. Be honest. I appreciate that, just don't be mean and say a bunch of crap if you hate the story.**

**Okay? Cut me a break douches of the internet. Lol. Please, don't take that personally UNLESS you ARE the anonoymous reveiwers that have been sending me some rather irritating messages.**

**Only saying this ONCE people: IF YOU HATE WHAT I WRITE THEN DON'T READ IT, DON'T REVIEW IT, JUST GO AWAY AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE THAT WRITES WHAT YOU LIKE!**

**0_0'**

**Heh-heh.**

**^-^'**

**Sorry for that rant, but I've been so stressed lately, especially since some people have been bugging me through hate-email.**

***Rolls eyes for whatever time this is***

**I AM grateful that you read my stories and like them and review and fav them and whatever else you do that are positive to my self-esteem. I really appreciate all that and DO thank you for having an interest in my writing.**

**Hugs for all! XD Well, enough ranting and chit-chating and whatever else I've been doing.**

**On with the story!**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>Pacing angrily L couldn't believe that Beyond had lost his son. Well, actually it was easy to believe but he just couldn't believe that the umbreon had tried to keep it a secret from him. No secret stayed secret for long, especially since he was a psychic type. <em>I should have known something like this would've happened.<em> He thought as he continued his angry pacing. So far he'd learned nothing from any of his twenty contacts, otherwise known as 'acquaintances' that kept a lookout for him when he requested it, which wasn't very often.

"Brother, relax." Beyond said sitting off to the side, his rings glowing underneath the moonlight. "As long as a body isn't found there is hope."

"Hope?" He breathed sounding calm despite the rage his aura let off. "What good is hope, Beyond, when I know his nature. He is overly curious. Near is bound to get himself into trouble. You know what will happen. And if I am not there to protect him…."

"Again, brother, I say relax. Asia has some water pokemon keeping an eye out from the river and I have requested some eyes in the sky. You have a few informants and spies looking out for him. Honestly, brother, how many white eevees are there? You said that it was rare for any pokemon to be born an albino."

"It is. But that makes him an open target for attention from some predators."

"We'll find him. Trust me. I-"

"I have trusted you!" L hissed. He walked to where he was practically nose-to-nose with Beyond, who halfway closed his eyes in annoyance at this invasion of space. "I trusted you and _you_ lost _my_ child! Why should I ever trust you again?"

"Look, even if this one dies you can always make another child. You are young and have plenty of time for reproducing next mating season."

"That's not the point! Near is my son. He is more than a successor. He is my youngest son, as well. He can't be replaced like you say he can be. So either get serious about this situation or get out of my sight, because frankly, brother, my patience has gotten very thin."

"I'm serious." B grumbled under his breath. "I was just trying to make you feel better about things. It's not like you can't spawn more sons. No need to get up in my face about this grave matter. It's Asia's fault too, you know. I don't see you spitting your anger in his face."

"I honestly don't know what to do with you."

"L!" Screeched a voice as a venomoth flew down. She stopped and hovered just above the ground. "I saw him!"

"Who?" Both L and Beyond inquired in perfect unison.

"The white eevee, I saw him!"

"Really?" Beyond muttered staring at her doubtfully. "Where?"

"Yes, where!" L demanded, looking eager for the answer. Beyond saw the unmistakable gleam of hope in his dark, weary eyes and hoped for his sake that this venomoth wasn't spouting a bunch of rubbish. "Tell us, quick, and we'll go there!" She looked rather confident as she spoke, so Beyond felt a bit more ready to believe her than he did when she looked timid and unsure like before.

"I saw this white eevee traveling with an elder looking eevee. And the white eevee was really beat up. He was limping and scratched up. At first, I thought they were friends, but then for no reason that elder eevee attacked the poor little white one! He hurt him something awful! I couldn't stay there and keep watching so I flew here as quick as I could, yes I did, and so here I am telling you."

"That doesn't tell us where he is!" Beyond snapped. "Where were they?"

"Just a couple few or so long miles from here."

"Let's go." L said as he used his unbelievable teleportation abilities to disappear from that spot and appear to other pokemon several miles from there. Meanwhile, Beyond had to use his speed and hope that he was getting where he was supposed to, which wasn't very good considering how impatient he was feeling.

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><p>"I'm sorry." Near apologized. "I didn't mean to lose consciousness."<p>

"You learn those big words quickly." Mello murmured with a smile, but then frowned and shook his head to clear his head of distractions. "No, Near, don't say that. It was my entire fault. I shouldn't have used such a powerful attack. I'll just stick with tackles and headbuts from here on out, okay?"

"Okay. I forgive Mello."

"Heh, yeah you're good at forgiving, Near. But then again, you _are_ a baby. So, you know, that's great, I guess."

"Mello, I-" he then paused and raised his ears. "What's that?"

"Hmm? What's what?"

"Noise." Near whispered. "Doesn't Mello hear it?"

Lifting his ears Mello did hear it. It was a soft fluttering of what sounded like several pairs of wings. Turning around nervously his eyes widened upon seeing what could've been mistake as hundreds of venomoths but was actually just fifty flying towards them at full speed. "Oh, snap! Near run!" he shouted, turning to make a quick run for it. Near followed him, matching his speed, as they zipped here and there trying to get away from the pursuing flight only to find that it as getting closer and closer with each second.

Noticing a clearing from the corner of his eye Mello slowed his pace a bit to make the turn. Curious about this idea Near done the same, only to get shoved aside by Mello, who watched as he rolled and tumbled off into some shrubs. Sorry, he thought as he continued the frantic run, but if this works then you'll be thanking me for the rest of your life.

"Merro!" Near whined seeing that he was running off, leaving him behind. He began to pad after him but stopped, fluffy tail drooping and ears down in sadness. Near sat down and decided to wait for his companion to return for him…if he did. That was when he noticed some sort of little fuzzy pink toy. He poked it with his paw and gasped when it jumped back. Intrigued by this he pounced at it, but landed too late it jumped back again, growling in determination he jumped again only getting the same results as he had before.

"Hey!" he called softly when the little, strange fuzzy toy disappeared into a bush, "come back, please, don't run away!"

Mello stood, staring proudly at his plan worked, which had worked successfully. The venomoths all struggled and moved trying to get free from the hidden traps. Laughing unashamed at his evil trickery Mello padded off to go find Near, who he hoped wasn't too angry with him. He soon found where he left Near, but found he was nowhere in sight and believed that the little eevee had wandered off into some mischief again.

"Near?" He called as he looked around that area. "Near! Come on out! If you're close by call my name and I'll come help you. Near! Where are you, Near-"

"Mello!" Came his reply. It was faint, but heard. "Mello, help! Mello!"

"Near?" He called. Running as fast as he could he padded towards the sound of the calls, but soon found himself entangled within a net.

Struggling he found that it was in vain. The more he struggled the tighter the net pulled around his small body. "Let me go!" he barked angrily at the net as he began to bite at it, but soon found his teeth done no good. Thrashing about he looked around as best he could trying to see if he could spot his small white albino eevee friend.

"Near!" he called struggling and grunting some more as he fought against the net. "Ugh! Near! What's going on? Where are you?"

"Silence!" an infuriated looking marowak snapped, stomping a foot angrily at him. A sneasel appeared behind him. While two humans appeared holding a handheld cage that Mello noticed held an unconscious looking Near the elder eevee stared feeling anger pulse through his veins as he realized that they had hurt the younger, weaker eevee. "You are to stay still or else." Growled the marowak. He looked really livid and frightening to the small eevee, but his rage didn't intimidate Mello any, if at all.

"Let him go!"

Snapped the marowak, "Be quiet!"

"No," Mello snapped back at the marowak, "shut up you stupid bonehead and let Near go!"

Those were the last words he uttered before the marowak raised his bone club and smashed it against his skull. He felt the two blows, which followed the first. The last one rendering him unconscious, despite how much he tried to stay conscious for Near's sake he was unable to do so. The young eevee felt useless and so afraid when he finally let go of his last shred of conscious thought.

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><p><strong>Once again, I apologize for offending any people with my rude, yet honest thoughts at the beginning.<strong>

**Hmm, almost done! Just 2 more chappies! XD**

**And I promise to be quick about it, but I'll be careful so that things don't turn out too bad.**

**;3**

**~Luv, Fairylust~**


	9. Trusting Strength

**Warnings: Violence, sadness, hurt feelings,and lots of angst.**

**You guys should know me by now.**

**;P**

**~Luffles, Fairylust~**

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><p>Mello woke hearing the sounds of whimpering and frightened sobs. Groaning he raised a front paw to rub the top of his head between his long ears, which twitched and shook in pain that was beginning to fade away, but still lingered. Broken sobs didn't ease his pain any. Small, wet droplets fell onto his face as he felt a small body shaking in a mixture of fear and sadness beside his. "Near?" he managed to groan out, as he tried to sit up shakily. "Please, please tell me that is you."<p>

"Mello?" He heard the small eevee gasp out in surprise. "Mello isn't dead?"

"Of course not," he laughed weakly. The laughter stopped as an annoyed growl entered his throat. Opening his dark eyes fully he cringed at the feeling of the warm sunlight burning his eyes. Sighing he looked at Near. The smaller eevee was shaking all over and tears ran down his face. Bright crimson blood stained his head and other parts of his body, matting his pure white fur in some places where it was most fluffy. Mello looked at him and murmured without much compassion due to his fatigued state, "I'm as alive as you are, you stupid twit."

"Oh, Mello!" He screamed sounding all girlish and stuff, as he continued to cry but then began to rub up against Mello. "I thought Mello was dead because of me! I'm sorry for getting us into trouble! I'm so glad Mello isn't dead!" The small eevee then broke down into terrified sobs that were as broken as he looked, "Sorry, sorry, sorry…."

"Near," he said quietly with a sigh, "don't cry. I promise you, you'll be okay from here on out." Putting a gentle paw on Near's tiny one he gave the smaller eevee a reassuring lick behind his ear tasting the metallic tang of blood. "Whatever happens to us we'll go through it together, okay?"

Nodding, sniffling the smaller eevee forced on a small smile that broke Mello's heart to see. "Stay strong." He said looking at the younger eevee sternly. "No matter what, Near, you can't let these stupid humans break you. If you do then I'll never forgive you. Do you understand? I'll never speak with you again if you give into their command!"

"I won't, Mello." Near promised softly. "I promise to never give in." He looked so promising and strong when he said that that Mello felt he shouldn't have to say more, but knew the tiny eevee would need all the encouragement he could get. That was when the truck they were being carried in stopped. It was just before Mello could utter another word that a human man brought the cage from the back of the truck, which they were being held. The cage was dropped to the ground making Near yelp a bit, as he cringed down beside Mello, who glared up at the human men. "What do you think would sell?" one of the human men said holding a strange looking crystal-like stone.

"Mello?" Near whimpered as quietly as he could upon seeing it. "Mello? What's that?" He seemed curious enough, but Mello quickly realized what the stone was and knew he couldn't let Near or himself be forced to evolve. "Stay down." Whispered Mello. "Don't move, just stay down." Near nodded ready, as well as willing to obey.

* * *

><p>Panting and looking about in anger L had freed the dense flock of venomoth, who had lost sight of his son, furthermore angering him. He was definitely going to have a talk with his son once he found him. The little one was causing a lot of unneeded trouble. If he had been watched more closely or had done as told and not wandered off, then L imagined all of this trouble could have been avoided. But if Near had listened then the espeon imagined he wouldn't be learning a valuable lesson, which he certainly hoped he was or had already.<p>

Inhaling deeply he didn't even acknowledge his brother when he shown up. At least not until he spoke up, tired of being annoyed. "Any luck?" Beyond asked. L gave a curt nod and continued concentrating trying to search the area with his mind and see if he could find Near through the minds of other pokemon. It was easier than he thought it would be. He found several pokemon that had seen the small white eevee pass by. The most recent image he found was of the tiny white eevee being held in a cage. There were some familiar looking humans standing nearby with a pair of familiar looking pokemon.

Sighing impatiently Beyond sat down and clawed at the ground beneath his front paws feeling the impatience seep into his being like a toxin. "Do you have a scent or perhaps a clue as to where our little one has wandered off to?" he questioned. His rings glowed dimly as he became more anxious. L stood up after a quiet gasp escaped his mouth, followed by a hiss of angry annoyance.

"The human poachers have caught him."

"Ah. I suspect we'll have to rescue him?"

"And fast." He sighed. Turning L looked at his younger sibling with an intense gaze that also shown how fatigued he was with this whole situation. "They have a collection of evolution stones. It would seem they are planning to evolve him and his little companion that they've got locked up with him."

"Then why are we still standing here? Let's go!"

Without replying L began to run in the direction of the clearing where the two young eevees were being held captive. Beyond followed close behind ready to taste blood and feel his claws as they slashed through flesh and bone.

* * *

><p>Shivering Near yelped when a hand grabbed the scruff of his neck. Mello acted quickly, biting the hand and withdrawing as far back as he could in the cage, making sure Near was behind him as they curled up in the very back of the cage in the farest corner away from the humans. He wasn't willing to risk letting them take Near again. He'd already lost one eevee that was under his care. Mello wasn't ready to fail at caring for Near, not when he'd already failed someone else once.<p>

Glaring Mello cringed when the marowak slammed his bone club against the cage, but he didn't move an inch. Even when the sneasel threatened to rip his fur off and wear it as a coat he kept exactly where he was. Hearing the younger eevee whimper he turned to face him for a moment. He really wanted to reassure Near. "Shhh," he whispered to Near, "I promised I'd protect you and I will."

"Don't let them hurt you."

"I'll do whatever it takes." He promised. "You shouldn't be scared. Even if it kills me, Near, I won't let them hurt you."

"No." he whined sadly, sobs beginning to tear their way from his throat. "Don't…Mello…please." He cried as his small form shook uncontrollable.

"Shhh. It'll all be over soon and you won't be scared anymore."

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"O-okay, Mello."

A large hand reached in and grabbed Mello's scruff roughly. He practically jerked the eevee from the cage, him squirming the whole time. Growling he stared as a yellow colored stone was selected and held closely to his face. The marowak was trying to scare Near out from his corner, but he kept still where he was just like Mello had told him to for once. "A jolteon would sell nicely, don't you think?" the man said, one of his friends laughing a bit.

"Yeah, but aren't vaporeon more popular around here?"

"And wouldn't a shiny vaporeon be more popular than a normal one any day?" The human holding Mello seemed to think this over and turned back to the cage. "Yeah, I suppose your right." He said with a sneer. "Let's forget about this normal eevee and concentrate on our real prize." He said literally tossing Mello off to the side. He landed on his feet, stumbling backwards a little ways. The marowak turned and upon seeing that Mello was ready to attack charged him. The larger pokemon slammed his club into the eevee's body sending him flying into a nearby tree.


	10. Resistance

Near let out a frightened cry as he was forced from the cage and held firmly by the man, who held a red stone in his free hand and was moving it closer and closer to the frightened eevee. "Leave him alone!" Mello barked, standing to his feet. He was trembling all over but managed to run and take hold of the man's pant leg, tugging at it hoping to distract him. The man turned and gave a swift quick to the attacking eevee, but didn't really hurt him any more than he already was.

'_Take it easy.'_ someone said inside of his head, _'It's all right. We're here. We'll take care of everything, you just need to take it easy or else you might really get hurt.'_

"Who are you?" he asked, looking around he felt confused and scared. "How are you-?"

_'I compliment you on this childish resistance you put up to protect such a weak little child as Near. I truly believe you know who I am, young one. You have witnessed my work before. Just in case you need clarification, however, I suggest you take a look up.'_

Looking up as he was instructed Mello gasped quietly upon spotting the same espeon from the other day as well as an umbreon. Both were sitting up in a tree branch close above the humans.

Suddenly, they leapt from where they were and landed on two of the humans. Beyond bit deep into the shoulder of the man he'd leapt onto. His cry of pain was music to his ears. Smiling he clawed at the man's face and took off his ear lobe enjoying the small spray of blood he got. Licking the crimson liquid from his face he then took a leap onto the marowak that stood awkwardly nearby.

L used his psychic abilities to toss the other two humans forty feet away. He also done away with the sneasel, moving over to where Near was huddled with Mello, seeing this Beyond moved over to his brother's side. One second they were there, but the next they were several miles off safe from the poachers.

Well, Near wasn't as safe as he'd liked to have believed even when he hid behind Mello, who backed away from L and Beyond. He was feeling wary of them, meanwhile Near feared punishment for running off and getting lost and causing so much trouble for everyone.

"Near," L said firmly keeping a steady gaze on the white eevee that refused to look at either him or Beyond, "look at me." Near shook his head 'no' stubbornly, keeping himself close behind Mello, who he felt could protect him from anything and anyone, including his father's anger. "You are in a lot of trouble," L continued. "I should let B smack you a good one between your ears for how bad you've been."

"I'm sorry." He called to them cutely. "I didn't mean to…."

"Be quiet!" Snapped Beyond, making the tiny eevee whimper and cringe. Mello moved so that he was beside Near, standing firm and keeping his gaze on the two other pokemon. "You've caused us all sorts of trouble! Me especially, you selfish brat! Do you realize how long he's," Beyond pointed a paw at L accusingly, "has been threatening to hurt _me_ because of _you_?"

"I-I'm sorry."

Near looked like he was on the verge of tears, angering Mello who stood beside him reluctant to let him get bullied by some dumb umbreon. "Hey, why don't you just leave him alone! He didn't mean to cause trouble for anyone, you stupid glowing freak!"

"I'll show you a freak if you open that trap of yours, you worthless coward! You're all talk, much to weak to fight me, so you compensate by blathering a bunch of garbage, well just shut up!"

Growling Mello was about to make a move when Near stopped him, looking to him pleadingly.

"Don't fight." he whispered, ears laying flat and tears shimmering in his large dark eyes. He turned to L with a shaky body. His breathing wasn't steady. He tried to keep as innocent as he could, already knowing he was in a ton of trouble. "I am sorry for being so bad, Daddy."

"That's not good enough." L said taking a step towards Near and Mello. "You'll be punished when we get home, now come along. You've had your fun but now that's over and we're going home. Your wounds need to be treated before they get worse and I promise you'll have a nice long rest afterward."

"B-but…" The tiny white eevee looked to his father and friend feeling torn. On one paw he could go home with his father and uncle, but on the other he had a friend-a big brother-that he really didn't want to leave.

"Can Mello come too?" he asked. L's dead eyes scanned over the elder eevee, who was still looking him over mistrustfully.

"Hmm, why should he come along?" Beyond asked with an irritated sigh. "The bad mouthed twerp seems tough enough to make it on his own. No need to have him tagging around and making trouble. Doubt he's worth much, anyway."

Near cringed, shrinking down from his uncle's harsh words. Moving to where he was hiding between Mello's front paws Near stared up at his family with large, innocent eyes that pleaded they understand and let his new friend come along home with them. His resistance to leave him impressed Mello, who looked to the two elder pokemon, worried they were about to crush Near. L looked over this eevee that had his son acting so disobediant. Clearly, Beyond disliked him, which instantly earned him some like points from L, who was amused at this.

Moving to his brother's side Beyond whispered, "He's just another brat we'll have to waste our time with. He most likely will just be trouble, surely brother you can see he has no trust or liking of us. And the mischievous glint in his eyes is visible, is it not? That little monster will only cause us trouble."

"Perhaps," L mumbled to him, "I will be the judge of that. I want you to take Near and head back home. I'll follow after you."

Nodding Beyond followed L as he slowly approached Mello and Near.

"So," L said with an eerie smile, "you care for my son, do you?" Ears laying flat on his head Mello glared at them as they approached. He didn't like the way they were suddenly acting. The two brothers froze at least two feet away from the pair of eevee, waiting for a response.

"He's a weak little twerp," Mello said with a bit of hostility to his voice, "he's weak and fragile, just like I said. He is a puny scrawny little baby that needs somebody to look after him and if I don't then he'll die. And yet, Near is amazing. He is willing to get into more trouble over someone who didn't even want him around to begin with-"

He cut himself off for a moment or two to think back, and then he looked defiantly to L knowing exactly what he wanted to say to the espeon. "He's innocent! Near is an innocent little kid. No, to be more accurate he's a pathetic runt, but I don't care because he's one of the strongest pokemon I've ever met! His strength comes from withi his soul, rather than his attacking abilities. So listen up! I don't very much like the idea of you two taking him away just so you can 'accidentally' lose him again and let him die."

"What? Do you think we lost him on purpose?" L demanded as he began to move around the two eevee like a bird would prey. Circling them he kept his gaze a dark, intense flame that demanded an answer to what he'd just asked. Standing his ground, but keeping his ears up and hearing sharp Mello suppressed a growl that was threatening to come out.

"It sounds like he thinks we're incompetent guardians." Beyond growled as he began to circle along with L, who growled a bit upon hearing this, knowing it was true that Mello thought that.

"Maybe because you are!" Mello accused. "I bet you guys just 'accidentally' took your minds off him just long enough for him to 'accidentally' wander off and 'accidentally' get carried away by some bird pokemon that happened to be nearby. That's all awfully coincidental, don't you think?"

"You know nothing, you stupid little fur ball!" Beyond spat as his claws began to rake the dirt. "Maybe if he didn't have to wander off and everywhere like some freakin insect, then maybe I wouldn't have lost the little pest!"

"Beyond, hush!" L hissed seeing tears were beginning to drip form Near's large partially closed eyes. "Near," he said softly, pausing where he was not taking notice that Beyond also stopped, "come here now or you'll be punished even worse than what's already coming to you."

Whimpering the tiny white eevee got up from beneath Mello and padded over to his espeon father with his fluffy tail between his legs, ears down, and body low to the ground in fear of punishment then and there for his resistance to obey.

"Take him home." L said tenderly. He gave one final look to Mello, and then turned nudging his tiny eevee son towards the umbreon. "I'll catch up with you sooner or later. It's not a promise but you'll have to believe me."

"Take your word for it? You might as well be dreaming."

"I figured as much." L sighed in irritation at this open display of mistrust. "Look, Brother, just please watch over Near until I come after you. Afterwards you can do whatever you like with your precious friends. Is that a good enough deal, my dear little brother?"

Shrugging B smiled. "It's as good as it'll ever get, I suppose." Turning to Near he barked, "Hey, squirt let's get going!"

He watched as they started to leave. Near stopped walking once not long after they started. Looking back at Mello he felt a deep sadness seep into his heart. What was L going to do? He had no clue and was sort of afraid for Mello, worried that he may have somehow gotten him into trouble. Impatient as ever Beyond grabbed him up by the scruff of his neck despising the fur that was prickling against his tongue and the fact that Near squirmed and whimpered quietly not liking the rough hold he had on him.

As soon as the two of them disappeared from sight L gave a deep sigh. "You really hate me, don't you?" He said sensing a rise in hostility from the eevee. He shook his head a bit as though saddened by this fact.

"I hate anyone who just abandons their kid." He muttered bitterly, and then he added with a louder tone that was dripping with fury and resentment, "And I really hate those who take my friends away from me!"

"Listen, I don't wish to separate the two of you. I could tell that Near is very fond of you. You make him happy, knowing this in turn makes me happy. I know that he would be crushed if I seperated you. I also know that you have apparently grown an attachment for him. I know by that look in your eyes that you will be an ideal role model for him."

Mello felt confused by that statement. What look was there to his eyes? He knew the look of life and the look of hate. He knew of anger flaming in a pair of eyes and a cold sadness, as well. Were any of those the looks L was talking about? He vaguely wondered for a moment and no longer than that if Near could see this look that the espeon had mentioned. Did Near see it too? he felt his body tense as he cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"What look?"

"You're willing to do whatever it takes to survive, hmm? It doesn't matter if you lie, cheat, or kill as long as you achieve your goal. You're willing to do whatever it takes to claw your way to the top and you would destroy anyone that threatened those close to you. Isn't all of that right?"

"Y-yeah." A shocked Mello breathed no longer feeling hostile, but amazed at how much the espeon seemed to know about him. "What else do you know?"

"I can know everything if you're willing to let me take a little look into your past."

"Okay. But what if I refuse?"

"Then I might as well leave you here and get back to my brother and son."

"No, you can do whatever it is you need to!"

"Okay, then I need you to stand still." He said, as he got too close for comfort. Their foreheads touched and L's red gem glowed an eerie blue color. "You should just relax and let me scan your mind for memories. I would like to know what exactly you've been through."

"That is none of your business."

"I know, but I need to know whether or not this will affect how you behave around Near or not. I can't have you teaching him bad habits, now can I?"

"I guess not…." He mumbled without even attempting to hide his disinclination. "Okay, so you'll just see my memories and then get out of my head, right?"

"That's correct."

Relaxing with an audible exhale he felt a bit lightheaded, and then felt utterly numb. It couldn't have been for more than a minute. Within that moment, however, L saw every second of Mello's memory from when he first opened his eyes to meet his parents and four other siblings to when he was abandoned along with two of his older siblings. He witnessed how they lived together fighting the odds, but in the end losing the battle, as one of the older siblings grew tired of caring for Mello because of how much younger and weaker he was.

L saw the second abandonment by said older siblings, and then the death of the remaining sibling at the claw of a scyther. After that it was only confusion mixed in with an intense fear that was soon followed by a realization and refusal to give up. Clinging to life was the last thing he had and L saw him struggle to keep a hold of life even when things became most difficult.

He saw everything from the time Mello hatched to right then and there. Pulling away from Mello, who gasped as though being freed from some sort of confinement that had imprisoned him for years, stumbled a bit forward. His eyes widened a bit in surprise when L caught him holding him up with his psychic abilities.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Well, it would seem as though things are going to be okay. I've seen your past and am not too impressed, nor am I surprised. I trust you, Mello. Thank you for all you have done for Near. I truly appreciate it. You are very mature for such a young one."

Dipping his head a bit to show his gratitude L then picked himself and padded off heading after Beyond and Near. He paused and turned back upon realizing the eevee behind him wasn't following. L smiled recalling how Near had done the very same thing their first day together. Mello stood there uneasily feeling unsure of what to do with himself. He liked Near and wanted to keep protecting him, but he didn't want to risk getting hurt again by accepting the espeon as his guardian. Sensing his hesitation and worry L smiled softly at him.

"You don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not!"

"Of course not." He laughed softly feeling rather amused. "Mello you are a special eevee. You are a wonderful child. You shouldn't be afraid of getting close to others."

"Well why not?" he demanded. "I got close to Near and you took him away!"

"Aren't I offering you a chance to be apart of his life? I need someone other than Beyond to keep an eye on him. I trusted my brother to watch him last time and look at what happened."

"Yeah, okay. I understand that but how do I know you won't just get rid of us?"

"I need you."

"No, seriously. How do I know you won't-?"

"No," L interjected, "Mello, listen I really do need you two."

"Oh?"

"Yes. It's a long explanation and I'd rather discuss it later. Right now I want to get home, punish my son, and then get some rest." L looked really fatigued as he said this, almost drained of energy, yet in some way he also seemed rather honest when he spoke. Smiling at this Mello nodded. "Sure, besides you can always explain on the way." he said as he padded up to L and they headed off for home where L made Near apologize again, and then had him collect some berries. He was followed by Beyond, of course.

Meanwhile, L explained his whole 'successor' backup plan to Mello, who was rather amused but accepted it and gave L praise for thinking it up, of course, once Near came back they had to stop speaking about it and eat. Afterwards, Near and Mello went to sleep, too tired from all the activity, though also very happy to still be together. Mello was probably the most cheerful between the two of them, seeing as he now had something close enough to a family to fill the void he'd felt since he could remember being on his own.

As he watched them sleep L smiled proudly, knowing he'd made a good choice.


End file.
